The “FirnCover,” project team will install a network of instruments and take direct samples of how Greenland's snow and subsurface firn are responding to a rapidly changing climate.

Team members Mike and Sasha spent all day yesterday traversing a total of 330km round trip via snowmobile from DYE2 to NASA SE and back to do a repair on a station. They returned around 2300 local time last night, ate a quick dinner and turned in. Today they are taking it easy and enjoying some… Read More

Our FirnCover team has completed all the work on their traverses and are back at DYE 2 station. However, yesterday, two members of the team were scheduled to do a very long traverse to repair an instrument at NASA SE that they couldn’t do when they were previously there due to a missing part. I… Read More

Our science team successfully completed work at the KAN-U site over the past three days. Even though today had some moderate winds, they were able to traverse to the EKT site. So far everything has been going pretty smoothly and they’re on schedule – although weather tomorrow is questionable. … Read More

The science team arrived at KAN-U yesterday afternoon after weather conditions had improved enough for a safe snowmobile traverse. The traverse took about 4-5 hours and is located NW of DYE-2. They have a lot of work scheduled at this location including ice core drilling, installation of weather stations and GPS units which will take at least… Read More

After a day of flight delays to the Ice Sheet, I was notified by team lead Mike MacFerrin via satellite communication, that the crew landed safely earlier today at Camp Raven, also known as Dye-2, albeit with a minor occurrence. At one point, the flight crew noticed a gasoline smell inside the aircraft, so as a safety procedure,… Read More

On Tuesday, April 18, the FirnCover team arrived safely in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. It takes a lot of preparations for a 3 week traverse on the ice sheet. Training meetings abound. Knowing how to use the communications systems, operating and maintaining snow machines properly and covering general safety on the ice sheet in the elements (temperatures… Read More

Our science crew took off this morning from Albany NY with the Air National Guard en route to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. From all of us here back home, we wish them a safe and successful field season!… Read More

We are ramping up a new field season as we fly out to Kangerlussuaq early Monday morning. This year will be a particularly memorable year. As you may be aware, on Earth Day, April 22, 2017, there will be a series of rallies and marches set to be held in Washington DC and over 500 cities… Read More

Today we got up, had breakfast, and loaded onto the Twin Otter to fly up to the EastGRIP site, which is about 300 km north of Summit Camp. EastGRIP is interesting for a number of scientific reasons. It is the upper end of the NorthEast Greenland Ice Stream (so the site is also known as, or… Read More

We ended up departing Kanger just after 10:30 this morning and flew towards Crawford Point, the 6th site on our field campaign. The weather report was that there were low, thick clouds at Crawford, but the forecast called for clearing around noon as a cold front moved through. As we approached the site, it was… Read More

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About this blog:

Join CIRES PhD researcher Mike MacFerrin and the rest of the international FirnCover team on a five-week snowmobile and airplane traverse across the Greenland ice sheet. Follow the FirnCover team as they camp in subzero temperatures and hurricane force winds in order to measure changes in Greenland's high-elevation snow and firn, while crossing one of the most beautiful, remote and unforgiving landscapes on Earth.